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BIOGRAPHIES
Miscellaneous Sources
Gibson, William, M.D. |
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Marshall, John W. |
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Wallace, Joseph R., Rev. |
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WILLIAM
GIBSON, M. D., Jamestown, Mercer Co., Penn., was
born Jan. 22, 1813, in Oswego County, N. Y., son of
Samuel and Mary (McDonald) Gibson, natives of
Scotland, who came to America at the time of the
insurrection, in 1791. The grandfather of our
subject, father of Samuel Gibson, for political
offenses had to flee his native country, and was put
aboard a ship, concealed in a hogshead; he was safely
landed at New York, and finally settled in Argyle, N. Y.
He had six children, of whom Samuel was the
oldest. Samuel, in 1812, emigrated to
Oswego County, N. Y. (then thickly inhabited by
Indians), called the "far West." Their mode of
travel was on horseback and on foot along Indian trails.
Samuel Gibson and John VanBuren,
the brother of Martin VanBuren (subsequent
President of the U. S.), purchased a large pine tract of
land, put up mills, and shipped their lumber down the
Oswego River to a French post on the bank of Lake
Ontario, where the city of Oswego now stands.
Samuel Gibson died in 1815, leaving two
children: William, our subject, then two years
old, and Mary, the wife of Dr. William
Cotton, of Brownsville, Penn., now deceased.
Our subject spent his youth at Harrisburg, Penn., and
there commenced the study of medicine with Dr.
Samuel
Agnew, of Harrisburg, Penn., resuming his studies
with Dr. Alexander Proudfit, of
Oswego, N. Y. He graduated at New York Medical
University. The
Doctor holds the oldest diploma on record in Mercer
County, Penn. Our subject commenced the practice
of medicine in the city of Oswego with Dr.
Proudfit, his preceptor. In the fall of 1836
he left for St. Louis to resume his profession, but
being detained en route at Jamestown, Penn., he
concluded to remain there.
The line dividing Crawford and Mercer Counties
originally passed nearly central through the village of
Jamestown, Penn. That portion of South Shenango
Township, Crawford County, by legislative action, was
set over to the boro of Jamestown, and merged under the
jurisdiction of Mercer County.
The Doctor was married to Susan, youngest
daughter of Joseph Beatty, who resided
near Meadville, Penn. They have no children.
He and
his wife live in a palatial residence with beautiful
surroundings. Our subject is a man of influence
and means; was the early pioneer, and an official in
the construction of the several railroads centering at
Jamestown, Mercer Co., Penn.; was President of the
Jamestown & Franklin Railroad, and secured its
construction to completion. He holds the largest
interest in the Mercer Iron & Coal Company at Stoneboro,
now producing in the aggregate 500 tons of coal per day;
is also the largest stock owner in the Standard Mining
Company, of Pennsylvania, and President of the Mica
Mines in New Hampshire, also President of the Jamestown
Banking Company; is largely interested in real estate,
has donated by deed of trust the perpetual, annual,
income of two large brick blocks in the city of Erie,
Penn., (costing over $75,000) to the United Presbyterian
Foreign Mission Board of the United States, for the free
distribution
of the Scriptures in Arabic in Egypt and Palestine.
The Doctor's office and suite of rooms are the largest
in the medical department of any in the
county.
He and his wife have traveled extensively in Europe,
Asia and Africa; were members of the Quaker City
excursion party that Mark Twain graphically outlines in
his journal as the Innocents Abroad. In his office
cabinet are over 3,000 relics and mementoes he gathered
from sacred places and of historic interest, about
Jerusalem, Palestine and Egypt. In the collection
are 285 genuine ancient coins, that date back 650 years
prior to the Christian era, and down to the reign of the
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, A. D. 161. The
collection consists of Assyrian, Babylonian, Roman,
Greek and Hebrew coins, dug up by an English company
running a tunnel of excavation along the ancient valley
skirting the foundations of the old Jewish temple, while
exploring by tunneling within the ancient military
quarters in the Tyropeon Valley. The collection
was given to the United States Consul at Jerusalem, who
intended to donate them
to the National Museum, Washington, D. C, but presented
them instead to Dr. Gibson.
Source: History of Crawford County,
Pennsylvania, Illustrated, Publ. Chicago: Warner, Beers &
Co., 1885 Page 1184 |
JOHN W.
MARSHALL, Postmaster, Jamestown, Mercer Co. ,
Penn.; born in S. Shenango Township, Crawford Co., Aug.
26, 1832, son of David and Mary (Waid) Marshall,
and a grandson of Michael and Mary (Thompson)
Marshall, who settled in this township in 1798,
whose family were seven in number, Joseph, their
eldest son, who still lives near Jamestown, being the
first white child born in the township. David
Marshall also had seven children—two by his first
wife, and five by his second wife, Mary Waid—of
whom our subject was the second child, as well as second
son. Lieutenant John W. Marshall enlisted
in the late war Aug. 19, 1861, at Meadville, in Company
F, Eighty-Third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, under
Capt. D. C. McCoy, Col. John W. McLane,
commanding. After due preparation they left Erie City
for Washington, D. C, encamping on Meridian Hill, and
then on Hall's Hill, and there remained for the winter,
undergoing rigid training necessary to meet the trials
of actual war. He was Sergeant of his company when
they took up the line of march for Manassas, and finally
to Hampton Roads and thence into camp; and when spring
opened the march commenced and then followed all the
exciting contests of the Army of the Potomac down to the
siege of Petersburg, the Weldon Railroad, and the close
of the war. On Jan. 27, 1862, our subject was
promoted to be Sergeant-Major; on February, 1863, he was
next promoted Second Lieutenant, and First Lieutenant on
Jan. 25, 1864, and discharged Sept. 27, 1864. He
then returned home, minus his left eye, satisfied with
having discharged his duty toward his country. He
was married Oct. 5, 1869, to Martha, daughter of
J. D. Pelton, who resides near Jamestown.
Mrs. Marshall is the eldest of three
children. Mr. Marshall was appointed
Postmaster at Jamestown, and still holds that position.
He is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and in
politics Republican.
Source: History of Crawford County,
Pennsylvania, Illustrated, Publ. Chicago: Warner, Beers &
Co., 1885 Page 1185 |
REV.
JOSEPH R. WALLACE, Jamestown, Mercer Co., Penn.,
was born in Hopewell Township, Beaver Co., Penn., Apr.
21, 1842, and is a son of
Joseph and Rachel (Spence) Wallace, who have been
residents of Hopewell Township for over fifty years.
His father was a native of this State; his
mother came to this country when but two years of age
from her native land Ireland. They had a family of
ten children, seven living, of whom our subject
is the fifth child and third son. After receiving
his primary education near home, he attended Beaver
Academy one year, and at Westminster College five years.
He then taught for two years at the Jamestown Seminary,
after which he attended the Theological Seminary at
Allegheny, Penn. under the auspices of the United
Presbyterian Church, at which he' graduated. He
then settled in Jamestown, and on May 1, 1871, took
charge of the United Presbyterian Church. He has
written a concise history of the church. He was
married, June 20, 1872, to Miss Isabel Robinson,
and they have six children: Laura, Blanche,
William C., Lyde Edith, Howard Clement, Joseph Allen
and Jennie Robinson.
Source: History of Crawford County,
Pennsylvania, Illustrated, Publ. Chicago: Warner, Beers &
Co., 1885 Page 1185 |
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